Karachi University bomb blast

10 students injured as blast rocks KU
Karachi, Dec 29: A low-intensity bomb went off at the University of Karachi (KU) on Tuesday, injuring 10 students, two of them seriously.

An official at a private hospital in Gulshan-e Iqbal said they had received eight to 10 students injured in the blast.

Two
of those injured, Irfan Haider and Sajjad, were in a bad condition
while the rest were released after first aid, the official said.

Some of those injured were identified as activists of the Imamia Students Organisation (ISO).

Police
and eyewitnesses said that some students, including activists of the
ISO, were offering Zohrain prayers near the university's Central
Cafeteria at about 12:45pm when the explosion took place, injuring eight
to 10 students.

Some angry activists and leaders of the ISO
present at the university said that they had already sent an application
to the university administration for granting them a place for prayers,
which was still under consideration.

SSP Raja Umer Khattab of
the SIU, Karachi, said that it would be premature to say that the act
was of a sectarian nature though it could not be ruled out.

The criminal act might have been the result of some rivalry, he said.

The
police official said an investigation into the incident from different
angles was under way. SSP Khattab said that a complete vetting of the
students, including those of the activists, should be done as
investigations revealed that many of the political activists who had not
been studying at the university used to visit the premises.

The SSP said that the bomb had been planted under a tree in the garden near the cafeteria where students offered prayers.

He
said that the explosives used in the blast seemed to be of a TNT
nature, but the exact make of the bomb could only be ascertained after
the lab reports.

SSP Khattab added that the terrorists had used
ball bearings also as most of the injured had received splinter
injuries, and the weight of the bomb seemed to have been of about 400 to
500 grams.

Investigators probing the case termed the device a time bomb which was prepared with locally-made explosives.

Rangers
personnel, who had already been present within the premises of the
university, cordoned off the area of the blast and in the meantime
police teams, including the personnel of the Special Investigation Unit
(SIU), reached the spot and collected evidence.

A spokesman for
the Rangers said that the Rangers, with the help from the
police, the university administration and the bomb disposal squad
searched all the departments at the university and later handed the
charge over to the administration.

Some observers termed the
incident a total security failure on part of the university
administration and the personnel of the Rangers, as they said hundreds
of security personnel had been deployed at various points of the KU and
despite the presence of such a huge force, some culprits still managed
to plant a bomb at the university.

The DIG of East Zone, Shaukat
Ali Shah, said that the investigators were looking into the matter of
whether the device was a time bomb or a remote-controlled device.

Sindh
Home Minister Zulfiqar Ali Mirza, strongly condemning the blast at the
KU, directed the CCPO, Fayyaz Ahmed Leghari, to send him an immediate
report on the tragic incident.

He also directed the CCPO to
adopt strict measures and arrest those responsible for the blast and to
review the security plan within the premises of the KU.

Interior
Minister Rehman Malik also took notice of the incident of the minor
blast at Karachi University and ordered immediate arrest of the
culprits.

Students terrified as violence plagues KU
Karachi: Sectarian divides seem to be casting their shadow over academic institutions as
the first-ever blast at the Karachi University campus is believed to be
linked to recent clashes between two student groups on sectarian
grounds.

"The sound was so loud that the girls started crying. We
all left our bags and books on the table and ran out, as we felt that a
blast had occurred in the library," said Iqbal Baloch, who was studying
at the library at the time of the blast.

Baloch's paper of International Economics has been postponed for the third time in the wake of the blast.

"We
are extremely worried as to when are our exams will conclude and when
the new academic session will kick off. Being a resident of Turbat
district in Balochistan, I have to go to my hometown and meet my family,
but I don't know when I get to see them now."

Everyone inside
the campus seemed terrified. At the site of the explosion, angry
activists of the Imamia Students Organisation (ISO), whose five members
were injured, openly blamed a rival group for the attack, terming it an
act of sectarian violence.

"Despite the fact that our party had
reached a compromise with them after our recent clash, we are sure that
they are the ones who are behind the attack," said ISO's Qarar Hussain,
whose cousin Wajid was among the injured. Wajid is the group's general
secretary.

He added that their rival faction had threatened them
with dire consequences after some of its members were injured in the
recent clashes. "We believe that extremist elements within the group
carried out the attack in order to postpone the Youm-e-Hussain event
which is to be held soon at the university."

Chanting 'Labaik Ya
Hussain', Zain Ansari, another member of the ISO, warned of retaliation
if they were attacked in the future. "Thankfully, not many people were
present at the site. But we want to inform everyone that our party will
not tolerate such attacks and we may also resort to retaliation in the
future," he added.

A student of the Economics Department also
feared that sectarian violence had made its way into the campus. "This
is definitely a sectarian attack as both the groups have been fighting
each other lately. It is sad that Rangers never catch the culprits
despite having information about them."

He added that several
members of the student groups who are no longer students had been
openly indulging in politics on the premises for the last several years
under the nose of the administration and law enforcers. "I know people
in their thirties operating inside the campus. Why don't the authorities
take action against these people who are not even studying here?"

Students
were also very critical of the KU administration's failure to control
the worsening law and order situation inside the campus.

"Security
officials have even failed to control minor issues like mobile
snatching at the university, so how can we expect them to take action on
such incidents? The officials know which students carry weapons and
where they hide them, but they never take action against them," alleged
Mushtaq Ahmed.

Tuesday's blast also resulted in the postponement
of examinations due today, upsetting the students who have been facing a
series of delayed papers due to clashes on the campus.

Irum, a
student of MSc Final, was in the biology lab when the explosion took
place. "Everything seems like a joke to the administration as they only
close down the university when an untoward incident happens but never
take action against the culprits. Now with the blast, the government and
university officials should open their eyes and provide security to the
students." The news

University stays open
Karachi: Karachi University Registrar Prof Dr Kaleem Raza Khan has said that no holidays have been
announced by the administration and only one paper has been postponed
following a blast on the campus.

"We never told the media that the university is going to be closed
for three days," he said referring to TV reports about three-day closure
of Karachi University.

He added that the Rangers had started scanning the buildings on the campus for explosives.

"This process will be completed on Wednesday. This is the reason why the exams have been postponed only for a day," he said.

He said that the condition of two students who were seriously wounded
in the Tuesday blast was now out of danger, adding that no serious
damage had been caused to KU property.

Prof Khan said that the university had already issued a directive for the registration of an FIR of the blast.

Regarding security concerns, he said it was a difficult task to
ensure a complete peace on the campus. "Between 40,000 and 45,000 people
visit the university every day and it is difficult to check each one of
them. The visitors include many people who are not directly linked to
the university." Dawn

VC orders search operation on campus
Karachi: The Karachi University management has decided to take stringent security
measures in the wake of a bomb blast on the university premises,
including a thorough search operation on the entire campus, including
the Staff Town.

Talking to journalists after the blast on
Tuesday, Vice-Chancellor Prof Pirzada Qasim agreed that security on the
campus was not up to standard, expressing his reservations over the
performance of the two pro vice-chancellors who, according to him, were
clueless about the situation in the university.

The VC announced
that the displaying of identification cards by students and faculty
would be made mandatory. "Rangers personnel will also conduct snap
checking."

When reminded of the promises he had made 18 months
back that watch towers would be built around the gates and that a Rapid
Campus Police would be formed, the VC said he needed more time on this
account.

Imamia Students Organisation (ISO) leaders also
addressed a press conference after the blast, expressing their
grievances against the university administration. They said that the KU

management
had not been paying attention to their demand for more security on the
campus and permission to build a mosque inside the campus where they
could feel secure.

The ISO leaders decided to observe three-day
mourning, assuring the VC that it would not affect the ongoing
examination schedule.

Meanwhile, the university announced that
papers scheduled for Wednesday (today) had been postponed as the law
enforcers would scan the Administration Block and other areas of the
university in view of any possible threat.

SMI to get varsity charter soon: Awan
Karachi: The Sindh Madrasatul Islam (SMI) College will soon get the charter of university
after the resolution of some technicalities which came in the way due to
the 18th Amendment, said Dr Babar Awan, federal minister for law,
justice and parliamentary affairs, on Tuesday.

Delivering an
address at the SMI College, Dr Awan said that a meeting was held
recently to discuss the matter of Sindh Madrasa University with the
departments concerned. He was of the opinion that being the alma mater
of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah the SMI happened to be the most
prestigious institution for each and every citizen of the country,
including him.

Talking about the 18th Amendment, the law
minister said that all the provisions incorporated in the Constitution
of 1973 by various dictators had been removed, adding that the people of
Pakistan would now be treated on a parity basis as the Constitution
"provides equal fundamental rights to all citizens".

Dr Awan
called upon the students to discourage pessimist people, "because this
country is the first and last option and choice for all of us".

He
said: "This is the world of 'we' and not 'me' and this is why the
present democratic government is working on the guideline of
reconciliation and consensus set by Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto."

The
law minister said that the government provided additional Rs400 billion
to the provinces under the NFC Award, adding, "Karachi is
Shahra-e-Pakistan due to its affiliation with the Quaid".

Earlier,
in his presentation, Principal SMI College Dr Muhammad Ali Shah said
that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah used to love his alma matter to
the extent that he bequeathed one third of his personal property to
Sindh Madrasa through his last will. Similarly, former prime minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto placed the SMI under the federal government on June
12, 1974 in order to promote it as a national institute.

During
the tenure of Benazir Bhutto, girls' secondary section was added to the
SMI, he said, adding that she had also visited the alma mater of his
grandfather Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto many times and promised to develop it
according to its historic role but she didn't survive.

Dr Shaikh
stated that the president had also announced Rs 250 million for the
development of the SMI as a befitting memento to the memory of
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the federal education minister too
had announced that an SMI campus would be built in Islamabad. The news